Vol 2: Chapter 32
* The day before the skill orb awarding ceremony: House Ebene residence *
Lelenore was watching her lord, Ethan, train. At the training ground in House Ebene’s mansion, it is possible to practice swordsmanship and strength training even in the rain.
「—Okay, let’s end it here for today.」
「Y-Yes, thank… you…」Ethan said, trying to catch his breath.
For Ethan, who was drenched in sweat, his training partner was a beastman of height close to 2 meters. Since halflings are few in number when looking at the whole continent, practicing with a halfling all the time will often impact you negatively in actual battles. The purpose of this lesson was also to learn how to fight opponents with different physiques.
Lelenore offered a cup of water to Ethan as he was wiping his face with a towel. Ethan took the silver cup, and gulped down all the water in one go.
「Puhaa–」he exhaled, feeling refreshed.
「You did well today, Ethan-sama.」
Lelenore always uses honorific when speaking to Ethan.
「Yes. I will finally get a skill orb.」
「I wonder what kind of skill orb will it be? I’m looking forward to it… Haven’t you heard from your father yet?」
「—That is not something I can say, after all.」A high-pitched voice cut in between their conversation.
Realizing the owner of the voice, Lelenore immediately knelt on the spot.「My lord…」
Gaudy clothes don’t look good on halflings’ small bodies . Even so, nobles have to wear it for the sake of appearance.
Similar to Ethan, his amber hair was long, and intricately braided with real beaded gems which shone brilliantly.
He had a baby face which was similar to a human in his 20s. As such, his short-mustache felt out-of-place on his face.
The head of the family, Duke Ebene, sat down with Ethan on the couch. And soon, his retainers and guards came to the training ground in succession, so the surroundings suddenly felt cramped – still, they were all halflings, so the crampedness wasn’t too bad.
「Father, you’re back early today.」
「Hmm? Yeah… House Rozier cancelled the meeting, so I have some time now. Though, I have another meeting in the evening, so I will be going to the palace later.」
「Isn’t it quite unusual for House Rozier to cancel a meeting with you?」
「Yup…」Duke Ebene said, and closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking of something.「I feel somewhat unsettled. It’s a shame that the “Master Swordsman” of House Duke Luciel is on an expedition.」
Although what the Duke said was ambiguous and not concrete, no one disputed it. Halflings, who live with nature itself, value their intuition very much.
However, if there is something disturbing enough to mention the absence of “Master Swordsman”–
「Perhaps, something happened at the First Altar?」
Everyone listening was surprised.
The First Altar – The center and foundation of the Kruvan Holy Kingdom, just like the Holy Royal Family – no, in some cases more than the Holy Royal Family.
「…Father, Duke Rozier is the Secretary of the “Altar Administration Bureau”.」
「If he cancelled a meeting with me, that could be the only reason. After all, even if a foreign country were to launch an invasion, none of the Six Great Dukes will be thrown off by it.」
* The day before the skill orb awarding ceremony: Holy Royal Palace *
「—How can something like this happen!!!」
A loud voice shook the beautiful blue window panes.
A table, which was cut out of natural stone and perfectly polished, had a dignified air and a high class feel. But placed on top of it were several reports made of brand-new plant-based papers, old-fashioned parchment books, and a few long scrolls.
When the Holy King waved his hand, the reports flew into the air. When a thick book was about to slip off the table–a priest in ritual clothes jumped towards it while screaming, and managed to catch it.
「Eh, Your Majesty. This book is extremely valuable, so please don’t treat it roughly.」
「Shut up, Usa! You’re the priest, aren’t you! Do something!」
「Eh, so, as the high priest, as I said, the analysis of that skill orb has been completed–」
「I don’t want to hear it!」
The Holy King shrunk into his chair, and held his head in his hands, while trembling. No one in the nation would think that a grown adult—and the leader of a country, would act so defenselessly and emotionally.
The Holy Royal Palace was built as a place for the Holy King to live in, but on the other hand, it is also a place to worship and protect the First Altar. Therefore, the entire palace is built like a temple.
There are no doors or windows, for the purpose of “inviting spirits”. It is always open. Only the bedrooms are built normally, but everywhere else—for example, this meeting with the high priest El in the reception room, is completely visible from the hallway.
However, the Holy Royal Palace is less popular, and even if there are gardeners and cleaners, they suppress their presence and always work out of sight of the Holy Royal Family. And they are bound by duty of confidentiality through contract magic, so there’s no problem.
El, the expressionless giant rabbit, approached the trembling Holy King and touched his hand. Perhaps feeling the warmth of the fluffy fur, the Holy King turned his tear-soaked eyes toward El.
「…Eh, I think that the appearance of that skill orb during the reign of Your Majesty is probably… “fate”. Eh, when you overcome this difficult situation, the word “Hero” will be attached to Your Majesty’s name, which has never been given to your predecessors.」
「El…」
The Holy King brushed aside the rabbit’s hand feebly.
「I have to do it as the Holy King…?」
「Eh, that’s right.」
The Holy King wiped his eyes feebly.
「I’m a shitty bastard, aren’t I?」
「Eh, no one thinks that way. Not a single one of your citizens.」
The Holy King shook his head feebly.
「…I don’t want to be a hero.」
El didn’t respond to that.
「Until a month ago… I was just a merry father.」
The silence continued. Both El and the few priests who followed him, were holding their breath.
「—El」
The Holy King stood up.
「I’m heading to tomorrow’s ceremonial hall right now. For the final confirmation. Come with me.」
「Yes.」
At that moment, there was only the appearance of the one and only Holy King, who led the great nation Kruvan. There was only the Holy King who was dignified, strong and kind, hiding the pitiful figure he had shown earlier.
In the Holy City Kruvanyu, where an unprecedented emergency alert began and an unprecedented number of nobles gathered.
The rain stopped in the middle of the night.
And the day of the skill orb awarding ceremony finally arrived.
